A Well Deserved Reunion
by zblazer
Summary: A field trip for Ruka sends her back to Neo Domino City and her old friend Yusei Fudo. Takes place after the very end of the 5D's anime, episode 154. Beware of Spoilers. Ruka/Yusei or Luna/Yusei, whatever works
1. Field Trip

7/3/11 edit: Changed Yusei's age from the 30s to late 20s

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><p><strong>AUTHOR NOTES: <strong>Hello, Zero here with a new fic. I was inspired by this when I saw the ending to 5D's. As always, please do not be surprised if you find some grammar errors on this fic and I apologize in advance for it. **Please note this takes place after the final episode of 5D's and take note that if you have not watched up till the very end this may contain some spoilers. Read at your own discretion.**

Finally, if you have the time, please review and leave a comment so I can get some feedback to see how I'm doing. Thank you.

And finally, please enjoy.

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

Field Trip

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><p>In a lecture hall of a university, a girl was looking intently at her professor's lesson with her olive eyes, listening and summarizing points to type down into her computer for use later. She brushed some of her long green hair back to hook around her ear so it would not obstruct her view. The lecture was on Momentum (Ener-D) and various other factors which relate to it. The class proceeded for around an hour before the professor fell silent.<p>

"Alright, I think that's enough for today," The man said, turning around. He placed both hands on the podium in front of him.

The girl looked at the clock in the room, seeing that there were still fifteen minutes left until class would end. Some instructors would stop early, but this particular instructor wasn't known for it.

"To better understand Momentum, I've taken advantage of the three-day break you guys have the week after the next and have asked the school for permission for a field trip. I know it's a bit weird to be on field trips in college, but I really feel it'll help you guys out with understanding Momentum better."

The girl leaned back in her chair, curious. Where would they go to study about Momentum?

The man brought up a large hologram of an aerial view picture of a very familiar city to the girl. There was a large highway with a golden ring-like object in the middle. On top of it was a large rock that looks like a diamond.

"Neo Domino City!" the girl said aloud unconsciously. She quickly covered her mouth afterward.

"Oh? You seem pretty familiar with the city, Ruka (Luna)." The teacher chuckled.

A bit red from embarrassment due to the outburst, she nodded. "Yes, I used to live there when I was little."

"I see! Well, looks like you get a quick chance to go back!" He smiled. "With that said, this weekend we'll be going to Neo Domino City for a research assignment. We'll leave Saturday morning and won't be back till Wednesday night. If any of you have jobs other responsibilities keeping you from going, write me an email and I'll exempt you from the assignment. Keep in mind you still have to make it up as a separate paper, so don't think that this is optional in any way."

The bell's ringing triggered the students to start packing their belongings. The teacher said some more reminders, but Ruka wasn't listening as she left the room, her head in the clouds.

She felt a tap on her back and turned around to see one of her friends. "Are you going to go on the trip?"

Ruka thought for a moment before replying. "Well, I don't have a reason not to. It'd also be a good opportunity to catch up on some old ties." Assuming there's anyone left there that she knew, she thought to herself.

"But still, field trip in college?" The girl grinned. "I feel like a kid again! Can't wait!"

Ruka nodded with a bright smile. "I'm excited too."

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><p>The day of the trip arrived as a KaibaCorp plane was waiting at a local airport to the school. Since there were way too many students in the lecture hall, KaibaCorp had sent one of their private planes to take the students.<p>

"We get our own plane? So cool!" one of the students exclaimed.

Ruka was fairly eager as well, but more for the destination than the ride there. She walked passed an officer who scanned her student ID to see if she was from the class before allowing her to continue onto the plane. She found some of her friends as they all sat together while the plane was in the process of taking off. Eventually the engine began to turn and they flew off.

One of Ruka's friends looked through the assignment packet. "Looks like we're mainly going to be at a research lab on Sunday, and the rest of the days are some time to write up our paper and check out the city." She looked over at Ruka. "You've lived here right? You gotta show us around!"

Ruka gave a nervous laugh. "It's been about ten years since I've been here. It's probably changed since then."

They continued talking about things until the plane arrived at their destination. The students all exited the plane as they headed toward the hotel they were staying in.

"I wonder how the school got all the money to pay for this for just a single class…" Ruka wondered aloud.

"That's a good question." Ruka quickly turned toward the voice to see her teacher. "The head of the research facility actually offered to pay for all expenses, saying the education to students was more than enough of a reason."

Ruka pondered what kind of person it could be to have done something so nice before her friends ushered her off to their room.

A day had passed and it was Sunday morning. The plan was to look around the facility, have lunch, and then look some more before heading back to the hotel. Due to the size of the class, they were randomly split into four different groups, causing Ruka to be separated from her friends. She was here for studying though, so it might have been for the best. Ruka's group was first, and they were waiting around in the lobby for their guide. She could see her teacher talking to someone behind the corner of a hallway before walking back.

"Everyone, listen up! You're going to be escorted throughout various areas of this research facility to learn about Momentum. I hope you'll all learn a lot from this experience." He nodded to the person behind the corner before walked to the side.

Ruka gasped as the man walked forward. He was at around his twenties with blue eyes and had black and blonde hair spiked in a unique style. He wore a gray shirt and brown dress pants with a long white lab coat covering it all. The most notable feature about him was the yellow marker below his left eye.

With a smile, he greeted them by raising his right hand. "Good morning everyone. I am the head scientist of this Momentum research facility, Yusei Fudo."

A bunch of students were both taken aback and easily excited seeing Yusei live in person. It wasn't easy to forget his feat of protecting Neo Domino City from the Arc Cradle ten years ago.

"Dr. Fudo will be your guide. If you would, Dr. Fudo." The teacher bowed to Yusei.

Yusei shook his head. "Please, just Yusei." He turned toward the students. "That goes for all of you as well. Yusei's fine."

They started the tour, but it would always go off-track every now and then with questions about dueling instead of about Momentum itself due to whom their guide was. Ruka wasn't taking any of the facility in either as she continuously stared at the middle-aged researcher, thinking about what she would say to him after this sudden reunion. It wasn't long before the lunch break arrived. Many of the students lost a majority of their interest with Yusei and found tables with their friends to chat with. Ruka didn't have any of those friends with her at the moment, so she sat alone at a table with her tray of food. Just as she was about to grab her fork, another tray was set on the opposite side of the small table.

"Do you mind if I sit here?"

She looked up to see Yusei looking down at her. She paused for a moment before shaking her head. "N-no! Please go ahead!"

Yusei sat down in the chair as he started to eat his meal. He paused soon when he noticed Ruka intense gaze at him. "Is there something wrong?"

He doesn't know who I am, Ruka realized. It wasn't unreasonable though. Unlike most of the rest of the former Team 5D's, Ruka hadn't appeared on television through Riding Duel fame, nor had they really communicated with each other during the eight years since they separated. She sighed after relaxing a bit, thinking how silly it was to get tense about talking to Yusei. She smiled, "It's me, Ruka!"

Yusei's surprise was easy to see as his eyes widen and his mouth dropped a bit. Noticing his bewilderment, Ruka giggled as she took a hold of two points of her hair to recreate her hairstyle from back when she was still young.

It finally clicked for Yusei as he smiled back. "Ruka! It's been so long. You've changed so much."

She nodded. "It really has been a while!" She giggled again. "But you look just the same."

"How's everything going? How's Rua?"

"It's been great with our parents. Rua's out a lot now because of the Riding Duel tournaments."

"I've seen. He's doing great."

They started to talk about everything that had happened over the past eight years, but an hour just wasn't enough.

"Looks like it's time for more of the tour." Yusei looked up at the clock before pulling himself out of his seat.

"Um…" Ruka fidgeted. "We're free for the next two days. Are you too busy to meet up tomorrow?"

Yusei nodded with a smile. "Of course not. We'll have a small reunion back at my place."


	2. An Old Experience

**AUTHORS NOTES: PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR NOTES ON THE FIRST PAGE IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE SO YET.**

Additional Notes: Thanks for all the reviews; please continue so I can gauge whether I'm doing a good job or not. Finally, this chapter is just one big duel. I tried to emulate the style of the anime. Some feedback on that aspect would be appreciate for any future fics I may write that have duels involved.

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

An Old Experience

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><p>It was Monday morning and Ruka was in a park where Yusei said he would meet her. She was wearing her pink shirt and white shorts along with sandals and her purse slung over her shoulder. After a while she finally saw a familiar red D-wheel drive up to the curb. Yusei was wearing a more casual black jacket instead of the lab coat from the previous day.<p>

"Sorry I'm late," Yusei apologized, throwing Ruka a spare helmet.

"I wasn't waiting too long." She put on the helmet before jumping on behind Yusei and wrapping her arms around him for support. She was reminded how firm Yusei's chest was compared to Rua's.

Yusei pulled down the sidebar before speeding off toward the Daedalus Bridge. It was then that an indicator flashed on his screen. It was a challenge to a duel from an anonymous D-wheeler. While he would usually accept, he was busy today. Just as he was about to decline, Ruka said, "Wait!"

Yusei turned his head to her. "What?"

"I want to see…I want to see you duel again!" She said with excitement.

Yusei nodded with a small smile. "I understand."

The opponent D-wheeler drove up beside them. He had a standard D-wheel colored white. "Yusei Fudo, I'm taking you down!"

"SPEED WORLD 2, SET" the monotone robotic voice said from both D-wheels as a wave of distorted light rippled away from both of them. The D-wheels linked to the bridge as an ideal route was located for their bout.

Ruka had never participated in a real riding duel, the only one being with Lucciano on the Duel Board back years ago. Even though the duel hadn't even started yet, it was definitely a different experience.

"Duel!" Yusei and the opponent duelist shouted.

"The name's Xavier and I'll take the first turn!" The opponent drew a card. "I place a monster face down in defense mode and throw down two cards in the back. Turn end!"

Yusei paused for a moment before getting an idea. "Ruka, loosen your grip a bit."

Ruka was confused, but obeyed. With the D-wheel in auto mode, Yusei lifted Ruka from the back with both hands and plopped her back down in front of him as he scooted back."Take hold of the bars!"

Ruka, already thoroughly confused and frightened of what Yusei just did, quickly grabbed the bars for support. Yusei covered her hands with his own. He revved the D-wheel and caught back up to Xavier.

"Hey! What're you doing?" The man shouted in a rage.

"I'd like to know that myself, Yusei!" Ruka demanded in a quivering voice.

"Duel for me. I'll help you out if you get stuck," Yusei answered.  
>"Wha-what?"<p>

"I don't want to duel some girl! My goal is Yusei!" Xavier roared.

Ruka scowled a bit from that remark. She wasn't going to take that up straight. "Okay, I'll give it a try." She pulled a card from Yusei's Wrist Dealer. "Draw!"

She looked at the cards in her hand. There was a combo already there that Yusei would always use.

"I use Speed Spell – Angel Baton! When I have two or more speed counters, I can draw two cards and discard one. Next, I summon Junk Synchron in attack mode! When Junk Synchron is summoned successfully, I can special summon a level 2 or lower monster from the graveyard! I choose Speed Warrior!"

"Good work," Yusei praised as he upped the throttle, causing Ruka to freak out again from the increase in speed. "I'll tune my level 2 Speed Warrior with my level 3 Junk Synchron!"

"Gathering stars come together to form a new power! Become the path that lights the way!" both of them shouted. "Synchro summon! Come forth! Junk Warrior!"

"A synchro summon right from the start…as expected…" Xavier smirked.

Ruka pointed at the face down card. "Junk Warrior, attack the face down card! Scrap Fist!"

The card flipped to reveal the Obnoxious Celtic Guard. "Hah! When this special Celtic Guardian is attacked by a monster with 1900 attack power or more, it isn't destroyed!"

Ruka looked over her cards before making her next move. "I place a card face down. Turn end!"

"Time to show you my power!" Xavier grinned. "Draw! I summon Gogogo Golem! Now I Overlay my Obnoxious Celtic Guard with my Gogogo Golem!"

"Overlay?" Ruka wondered.

"I never heard of this before." Yusei stared intently at what was going on.

"I construct an Overlay network with these two monsters! Xyz summon!" The image of a spiraling galaxy appeared on the Solid Vision as the two monsters turned into a single white knight. "Arise! Number 39; Aspiring Emperor, Hope! (#39, Utopia)"

"Aspiring Emperor, Hope…!" Ruka couldn't take her eyes off the mysterious new monster.

"Hope, attack Junk Warrior!" The white king swung its two golden swords down at the humanoid robot.

"I activate the trap card Scrap-Iron Scarecrow! I can negate an attack this turn and the card it reset afterward," Ruka announced.

"Damn it…I end my turn!" Xavier drove faster ahead.

"Draw!" She looked over her options. "Junk Warrior doesn't have enough attack power so…I'll do this! I summon Nitro Synchron and I'll tune my level 5 Junk Warrior with my level 2 Nitro Synchron! Gathering feelings will now become a new power! Become the path that lights the way! Synchro Summon! Blaze on! Nitro Warrior!"

Yusei drove forward and turned around so the two of them were facing Xavier. Ruka pointed at Xavier. "Attack! Dynamite Crunch!"

"Not so fast!" Xavier smirked, grabbing a card from under Hope. "By sending one of Hope's Overlay cards to the graveyard, I can negate an attack!"

"No…! I place a card face down. Turn end," Ruka said as Yusei turned the D-wheel back around.

"I draw!" Xavier grinned while looking at his hand. "Combo time!" He grabbed two spell cards and slid them into his D-wheel. "I first activate Speed Spell – Explosion! If I have two or more speed counters I can destroy one of my spell or trap cards…" He chose one of his two face-down ones, "and I can change the position of one of the cards on the field! I change Nitro Warrior to defense mode! Next, I use Speed Spell – Dash Pilfer! If I have 4 or more speed counters, I can use this card to take control of a face-up defense monster on my opponent's field until the end phase!"

"Nitro Warrior!" Ruka cried as the large insect monster switched sides.

"I don't really want this thing though, so I'll release it to advance summon the Great Maju Garzett! Great Maju Garzett's attack power is double the original attack of the released card!"

Ruka's attention was now turned to the 5600 attack power monster and its sheer strength.

"No time to be dazzled!" Xavier laughed. "Hope! Attack!"

Ruka was in a panic, but wasn't stupid. She took the damage, causing her life points to drop down from 4000 to 1500. The bike began to swirl out of control as she screamed. Yusei quickly pulled an arm across her for safety as he used his other arm to try and steady the D-wheel.

Xavier groaned, knowing the young woman would use Scrap-Iron Scarecrow to block his second attack. "I use 4 speed counters to inflict 800 damage to you for every Speed Spell in my hand!" He held up the only card left in his hand. "And guess what this is?" A laser of some sort shot out from Xavier's D-wheel and struck Yusei's, causing Ruka's life points to drop down to 700.

The damage was done before Yusei could recover from the previous attack, causing him lose the only little control he had before. Thinking quick, transparent red wings appeared around his D-wheel as he flew to the air, allowing him to stabilize his control before landing back on the ground. The wings quickly disappeared afterward.

"Ruka! Are you okay?" Yusei asked.

"Y-yeah…I'm fine, thanks…" She suddenly realized the sensation on her chest and looked down, seeing Yusei's left hand right over her right breast. The hand quickly pulled away and was back on the bars of the D-wheel. Ruka turned around to see the same serious Yusei looking down the road. She wasn't sure if she should be relieved that he didn't know what he touched, or if she should be angry that her chest was so flat that he didn't recognize what it was.

Xavier seemed to have missed the winged D-wheel scene as he laughed harder than before. "I knew you couldn't beat me! Even if you're using his deck you're nothing compared to Yusei!"

Ruka closed her eye and lowered her head. "He's right…I-"

"Ruka…," Yusei said in a soft voice. "Did you forget who you are? Who we both are?"

It hit Ruka immediately as her frown turned to a smile. "No…of course not! We're Team 5D's! Now and always! I draw!"

Yusei looked down at her hand. "With this, you can win." Yusei nodded to her. "Believe in yourself!"

Ruka didn't see what Yusei was talking about and took a moment to think about everything before she realized what he meant. "I got it!" She pulled out a card from her hand. "Since I have no monsters on my side of the field, I can special summon Unknown Synchron to the field! Next I activate Speed Spell – Dead Synchron! When I have 5 or more speed counters, I can remove from play two monsters from the graveyard which would be able to synchro summon and summon that card on my field, but it'll get removed by the end phase. I remove Junk Synchron and Junk Warrior to summon Stardust Dragon!"

Xavier's grip on his D-wheel tightened. "Here it comes…Yusei's ace monster…!"

Both Yusei and Ruka raised a hand to the sky. "Gathering wishes will become a new shining star!" they both cried, "Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take flight! Stardust Dragon!" The white dragon flew out from nowhere as it roared proudly.

"If that's all you got you got another thing coming…" Xavier snickered. "Stardust Dragon only has 2500 attack power! It's the same as my Hope's and way less than Great Maju Garzett! I also still have an overlay left for Hope so it can survive one more attack! Admit it, it's your loss!"

"Ignore him. Keep going, Ruka," Yusei urged on.

"Yes! I summon Stardust Xiaolong to the field!"

Xavier never saw Yusei during the WRGP, and his face showed confusion on just what Ruka was planning on.

"I'll tune my level 1 Stardust Xiaolong with my level 1 Unknown Synchron! Gathering wishes will call out a new speed's horizon! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! The Power of Hope, Synchro Tuner, Formula Synchron!"

"Synchro Tuner? What the hell's that?" Xavier cried in surprise.

"Since Formula Synchron was successfully synchro summoned, I draw one card!" Ruka said while drawing the card.

"I'll take it from here, Ruka." Yusei flew up again on the red wings This time however, Xavier saw it and was even more baffled than before. After Yusei was high enough in the air, he flipped over, causing the unexpecting Ruka to start freefalling to the ground.

"Y-Y-Yuuuuseiiiiiii!" She screeched in fear.

"Clear Mind!" Yusei sped forward faster and faster. "Gathering crystal dreams will open the door to a new evolution! Become the path its light shines upon! Accel Synchro!" Yusei disappeared from view along with his monsters. A split second later he appeared far behind from where his vanished. "Be born!" He caught the falling Ruka before dropping back onto the bridge. "Shooting Star Dragon!"

The wobbly young woman was now sitting on the D-wheel so she was facing Yusei as her face was buried in his chest and her arms wrapped tightly around him. "D-don't do that again! Ever!" She said in a muffled voice.

Yusei wrapped his arm around her back so his hand landed on her head as he patted it. "Sorry, I should've said something first." He could feel his shirt wetting up with tears.

Ruka's grip weakened as she took a deep breath and wiped her tears with her sleeve. "It's okay…" With Yusei's help she turned back forward. "Let's finish this duel!"

"Right!" Yusei gave another boost of his D-wheel as they caught up to Xavier.

Ruka slid a card into the back row. "I activate Speed Spell – Speed Energy! When I have two or more speed counters, for every counter I have I can increase a face-up monster's attack power by 200 until the end phase. I have 6 speed counters so I add 1200 to Shooting Star Dragon, making a total of 4500! Next I'll activate Shooting Star Dragon's effect! I draw five cards and for every tuner monster I can attack that many times!" Ruka closed her eyes as her hand landed on the deck.

Yusei's placed his own hand on hers to comfort her. "Trust in the cards, and they'll be sure to reply." He pulled his hand away.

Ruka took a deep breath and exhaled…

"First card! Tuner Monster, Mach Synchron!"

"Second card! Tuner Monster, Drill Synchron!"

"Third card! Tuner Monster, Debris Dragon!"

"Fourth card!...Trap card, High and Low."

"Fifth card!" She slowly turned the final card, but finally grinned when the card was in view. "Tuner Monster, Quick(draw) Synchron!"

"You've gotta be joking!" Xavier couldn't believe her luck.

"Shooting Star Dragon can attack four times this turn!" Ruka announced as Yusei once again drove forward and turned around to face Xavier. "Shooting Star Dragon! Attack Aspiring Emperor: Hope!"

"I activate the trap card! Reactive Armor! (Sakuretsu Armor) When an opponent's monster declares an attack, I can destroy that monster!" Xavier used his last face down card in haste.

"I activate another one of Shooting Star Dragon's abilities! It can negate the activation of a card that destroys a card on the field, and destroys that card!" Ruka countered.

"Argh! In that case, I remove an overlay monster to negate the attack!" Xavier pulled out another card from below Hope to the graveyard.

"Here comes attack number two!"

Shooting Star Dragon blasted through Hope, dropping Xavier's 4000 life points to 2000.

"No need to panic…" Xavier assured himself aloud. "That thing only has 4500 attack power. Great Maju Garzett's got 5600. I got this…"

Just as he was about to get comfortable, Ruka pressed a button on the D-wheel. "I activate the Trap card Synchro Baton! This card increases the attack of a face-up synchro monster I control by 600 for every synchro monster in my graveyard. Right now I have Stardust Dragon and Nitro Warrior, giving Shooting Star Dragon a total of 5700 attack power!"

"No…No! I'm…I'm going to lose…!" Xavier knew what the inevitable end for this battle was.

"Third attack, go!" Shooting Star Dragon shot past the Great Maju Garzett as well, grazing off another 100 life points from Xavier.

"And now the final attack! Attack number four! Go! Stardust Mirage!" the glowing white dragon attacked once more, taking off the rest of Xavier's life points.

The young man's D-wheel slowed down, showing his defeat as he cursed under his breath. Yusei turned back around and drove off, leaving him alone.

"You did good, Ruka," Yusei praised.

"That was…too much…," Ruka leaned back so she was using Yusei as a backrest. "I need…a quick breather…"

Yusei took hold of Ruka again so his arm gently held her across the waist, making sure not to touch her chest again.

Yeah, he noticed.


	3. A New Experience

7/7/11 Fix: changed one instance of "Lua" back into "Rua" as well as changed Yusei's age range to Ruka's from nine to seven.

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><p><strong>AUTHOR NOTES: PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR NOTES IN CHAPTER 1 IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE SO YET.<strong>

Additional notes: Ugh...I think I tried too hard. The fic was supposed to end on this chapter but I tried extending it for just a bit more, which I feel has deteriorated the quality of the fic. I also attempt to go a bit "deeper" than I usually do, which is out of my field, thus again, possibly lowering the quality of the fic.

Anyways, some guidance would be appreciated. Please leave a review so I know how I'm doing so I can improve for future fics I write and the future for this fic as well.

Thank you.

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><p>Chapter 3<p>

A New Experience

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><p>Ruka groaned as she shifted around in a bed. She slowly opened her eyes to see a familiar room. It was very plain and had mainly the most basic things you'd find in a room. She pulled off the sheets and slipped on some slippers that were next to the bed. Her eyes drifted off to the desk where the red ribbon she wore across her waist and her purse were. There was also a picture from eight years ago, showing their celebration for winning the WRGP. She picked the frame up and smiled at it until she heard clanging coming from the garage. She put the picture frame back down and left the small room to see what was going on.<p>

She was greeted by a jacket-less Yusei fixing up his D-wheel after the battle with Xavier. It was somewhat damaged due to how the battle turned out.

Yusei wiped some oil off his hands on a rag and looked up, catching Ruka in his sights. "You're awake." He walked to a table and poured some coffee into two mugs. "Do you drink coffee?"

"Yusei, I'm twenty-one now. Yes, I drink coffee." She chuckled as she walked up to the table to add ingredients to the mug of black coffee to lighten the bitter flavor.

"Sorry…I guess I'm still not used to seeing you like this," Yusei sheepishly said, "As a grown woman, I mean." He ruffled her hair as if she was still a child before brushing it away from her eyes. "You've become very beautiful."

Ruka blushed as she looked down a bit to try and hide it. Back when she was a child, she always thought of Yusei as a responsible older brother to counter Rua's childishness. That wasn't to say she didn't trust Rua, but it was a nice balance. Within these past eight years her feelings and memories had deteriorated due to living with her whole family again. The current Yusei she saw was still a reliable mature figure, but there was something different now. There was a different presence but she wasn't sure what it was…

But before that though, she thought to herself while putting the mug down on the table. She took his hand which was still near her head and pulled it away. "Mr. Yusei Fudo, may I please ask what you were thinking when you had me take over that duel?"

Yusei's eyes shifted to the side as he thought of an excuse. He was a genius when it came to technology, but he was an amateur with women. "Uh, well, the only thought at the time was that I wanted you to try out the feeling of a Riding Duel. You're the only member of Team 5D's who hasn't tried it before, and I wanted to give you a taste when you said you wanted to see me duel again."

Ruka sighed while cradling her forehead with a hand. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't completely against it, but at least give me a heads up beforehand." The old Yusei would probably never have done something like that. Maybe after these eight years without having to worry about the problems of others, he had finally calmed down and started having fun, Ruka thought to herself to be the reason.

"Especially the part where you just dropped me; that was just uncalled for!" She felt lightheaded just remembering as she stumbled forward. Yusei grabbed her by the shoulders before she could fall. "S-Sorry, thank you…"She looked up and released a quick gasp after noticing how close her face was now to Yusei's. Her heart started beating faster as her cheeks became flushed.

"Are you okay?" Yusei asked worryingly. "I'm sorry; I probably pushed you too hard during the Riding Duel. I'll take you back to the room to rest."

"N-No, it's fine I-" Ruka tried to pull back from Yusei to show she was fine, but hit the table behind her, causing her to lose balance. She tried to grab Yusei for support, but he wasn't prepared for it and dropped down along with her.

"Ow…" Ruka groaned as the back of her head throbbed with pain. She tried to sit up, but there was a weight on her chest. When she looked down, Yusei was groaning as well as he slowly lifted his head off of her. Ruka's already blushing face turned even brighter red as the embarrassments continued to stack. Unable to take it anymore, she screamed and pushed Yusei back, causing him to hit the table as well and knocking all the coffee over onto him. He cringed from the boiling hot liquid as he rolled off of Ruka. Realizing what had happened; she quickly jumped up and shot to the bathroom to grab some cold towels.

After another few minutes they had migrated to the couch where Yusei sat shirtless while Ruka was placing cold towels over all the red burns on his body. Throughout the whole time she apologized continuously while Yusei kept replying that it was fine. Right when she placed the last towel on his back, Yusei started a chuckle which slowly turned into a strong laugh. Ruka looked down at him, curious about what was so amusing. He slowly calmed down. "Sorry. It's been a while since I've been around company like this. It's refreshing."

It was then when Ruka remembered that Yusei was all alone here. She should have noticed when she saw the garage and apartment. It was an empty lot and there wasn't anything on Yusei's desk which indicated there were any new memories since the last time they saw each other. She massaged his shoulders. "Yusei…are you lonely?"

Yusei was taken aback by the question for a moment, but gave a defeated smile. "Maybe. It's been a while since I've had a connection like we did back years ago."

Ruka lowered herself so her head rested on Yusei's shoulder as she wrapped her hands across his body. She closed her eyes. "We never lost that connection. It's still here."

"Ruka…" Yusei looked over at Ruka, who opened her eyes again to look at Yusei. "You've grown a lot inside as well. To think that little girl became such an amazing adult like this."

Their faces were close to each other again to the point that they could feel the other breathe. Ruka felt the sensation again she felt earlier. Her blood started pumping harder as the mysterious feeling rushed through her again. The difference this time was that she wasn't the only one. Yusei was starting to feel something as well. Up till now he only thought of Ruka as a child even after seeing her as an adult. The little girl from long ago was still in his mind, but this older Ruka was starting to add on various traits that caused Yusei's breathing to grow heavy.

Ruka gave in first. She slipped a quick peck to his lips before pulling back to wait for a response for the stunned male. His blue eyes gazed at olive eyes as he pulled her head forward for another kiss. This time it was significantly longer. Both of them lacked experience, but they were content with simply sucking and having their tongues explore each other's unknown territory.

A good half a minute passed before they separated; a long trail of saliva still connecting their lips until it snapped. It slowly dawned upon them what they just did. Both of them quickly looked away from each other.

Yusei started having second thoughts about this. He realized this girl was still seven years younger than himself. There were probably better candidates for her to choose more within her age range. He closed his eyes as he became conscious of how stupid what he just did was. But still…it felt good. He couldn't deny that feeling. His lack of a strong human relationship may have changed him, but he felt it was deeper than that.

Ruka had her own doubts as well as she looked away from Yusei. What was I thinking when I started that kiss? She asked herself. Yusei was like a brother to her, at least that's what she thought until just now. Unlike as a child, she started to see him through the eyes of a mature adult; the hormones she lacked before now took over various thoughts in her head. The sibling relationship they had before felt like it had vanished after the first kiss. Plus there was Aki. Ruka knew Aki loved Yusei all the way back eight years ago. She suddenly felt guilty about herself, but the feelings she just felt from Yusei were overpowering all the other ones in her body. She allowed this feeling to sink in before turning back to Yusei, hoping he had an answer for her. He took a hold of one of her soft hands with one of his rough ones before turning to her.

They looked at each other's eyes for an answer that neither had. Unable to take it anymore, Yusei pushed Ruka down onto the couch. She didn't react as if some part of her wanted this as well. Yusei noticed some of the top buttons of her outfit became loose, revealing her modest bra. For some reason he couldn't help himself as he started to kiss her again. At the same time he also began to slowly pull down one side Ruka's top to exposing more of her pale white skin. He started to reach for her chest…

"Hey Yusei!" Leo (Lyndon) called in the echoing garage. "Someone brought in a digital clock to get repaired. Can you believe that? We do good old analog clocks! I don't know how to fix it so I was wondering if you…could…" The unknowing blonde saw the scene on the couch before him while the two looked back. "Uh…I see you're busy…" He slowly backed away. "I'll…come back at a better time…Enjoy yourselves!" He practically squeaked out the last part from various mixed emotions.

After a long pause had passed, the two of the snapped back to reality. Yusei quickly got off of Ruka as she quickly tried to fix her clothes up. When she was done, Ruka turned herself so she was facing away, unsure what to do. Her feelings were still is disarray. She sighed from the confusion in her mind. Deciding to leave it on hold, she stood up from the couch. "I…I should get back to the hotel." The black sky front the windows was good indicator that they've been there for a while.

"I'll take you," Yusei offered, "It's a ways off from here."

Ruka wanted to make up an excuse to be alone with her thoughts, but knew she didn't have much of a choice. "Okay…"

After grabbing her things they got onto Yusei's D-wheel and rode back to the hotel. Along the whole way both of them were silent; not knowing what to say to the other. The ride felt longer than it actually was due to the awkward mood.

They eventually arrived to the front of the hotel building, where Ruka got off the D-wheel and handed Yusei back his helmet. "Thanks."

Yusei simply said, "Yeah," before driving back to his apartment.

Ruka held a hand out in a weak attempt to stop him, but it was too late. She wasn't sure if her attitude drove him away or if it was something else, but if it was the former she wanted to fix any misunderstandings as soon as possible. The only problem was she had to sort herself out before she could sort anything else.

She walked up to her room where two roommates were playing a light game of Duel Monsters on the ground instead of using Solid Vision, while another was watching from the side. The idling friend noticed the green-haired woman walk in and called her over. "Hey! Where were you all day?"

"Uh, with an old friend," she replied halfheartedly.

"Okay, I know what to do here." One of the dueling friends proclaimed. "I can tune the Bolt Hedgehog (Quillbolt Hedgehog) with the Quick Synchron to make Junk Archer."

Ruka immediately noticed the familiar cards. "Where'd you get those?"

"They were selling them in town. It's a remake of Yusei Fudo's deck before he entered the WRGP," The other dueling friend answered.

The cards only reminded Ruka of Yusei even more. She dragged herself to the bed where she closed her eyes to try and get some sleep.

"Oh, Ruka, before I forget," the first friend said, "Can you help me out with the research assignment? I have some trouble understanding a couple of things."

Ruka's eyelids flung open as realization crept upon her. "…I forgot all about it."

"You're kidding…"

There was still around a day and a half before the assignment was due, but it was mainly about the research facility. Unfortunately, all of her attention was at the head researcher at the time, so she didn't take any of her surroundings in at all.

Ruka groaned while turning her body so her head was buried in her pillow.

"What am I going to do…?"


	4. Resolution

**AUTHOR NOTES: Please read the author notes of chapter 1 if you have not done so yet.**

Additional Notes: I finished writing this chapter around when I uploaded chapter 3, but it felt a bit funky so I looked through it again for a bit but it still feels a bit strange. Most likely, it feels rushed because I suck at resolutions. Anyways, I'll leave it up to you, the readers, to judge whether it's okay or not. This will be the final chapter unless I feel different about it.**  
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><p>Chapter 4<p>

Resolution

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><p>An error popped up on various screens in the lab, but quickly disappeared through a hasty fix from the one who caused it in the first place.<p>

"Doctor Fudo, are you alright?" one of the male scientists asked Yusei.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Yusei tried to assure them by continuing his job, but it created a counter effect by causing yet another error which he quickly cleared up again.

"Doctor Fudo, you should take the day off today," the same scientist suggested.

"I took yesterday off, I shouldn't take another day."

"Oh don't worry about that," a female scientist assured him. "We know all about that girl coming back here to Neo Domino City and how she used to be a former Team 5D's member. You must have a lot more catching up to do."

"I saw her during the tour on Sunday." Another female scientist giggled. "She was pretty cute, but maybe a bit too young for Doctor Fudo."

"Hey you guys…," Yusei said with a sigh.

"Like I said," the first female began to speak again, "we'll be fine. We've been here with you for a while and we know what to do. Catch up with your old friend and you can start working again after they leave."

Yusei tried to fight back again, but the looks from all the scientists in the room made him back off. "I get it, I get it; I'll take the day off." He stood up and walked to the door. Before he left the room, he turned back for a moment to say, "Thanks."

After ditching his lab coat for the black one, Yusei hopped on his D-wheel and started heading home. The events from last night were still fresh in his mind and he couldn't forget any time soon. He felt angry at himself for almost succeeding in assaulting Ruka. Her reaction after the interruption was not something he was hoping for. She was the one who invited him to the kiss in the first place, but she seemed distant afterward as if she was avoiding him. He probably went too far and made her hate him.

His wandering mind kept him busy by the time he arrived at home. He parked his D-wheel in the garage before walked up to his room and throwing his jacket onto the chair. He sat down on his bed to contemplate for a moment until he decided it was pointless and lied down on the bed with a sigh.

"Yusei, there's a call for you."

Yusei looked down the stairs to see Zora. "Thanks. I'll be over in a second."

He thought it was strange though. If it was someone from work they would call him on his cell phone. He arrived in the shopping area of the Poppo Time shop and picked up the phone. "Hello, this is Yusei."

"Um…" a quiet voice said from the other side of the line.

Yusei recognized the voice. "Ruka?"

"Yes, um…are you busy?"

"No, not particularly."

"Well, it's a little thing and you don't have to do it, but I have an assignment about the research facility due before I go back home, and I was wondering if you could help me with it."

"Yes, of course." Yusei almost jumped at the invitation. It was just a little thing, but it may be able to have Ruka forgive him a little bit more. "I'll come pick you up, then."

"No, it's fine!" she said in haste. "I don't want to cause any trouble on you. I'll take the bus over."

"It's no trouble at all. I'll come by in a bit. Bye."

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><p>Ruka pulled the phone away from her ear after hearing Yusei hanging up the phone on the other side. Yusei couldn't have recovered that fast from the night before. This was probably just him being incredibly nice as usual, and she was hoping to take advantage of it. This was her chance to clear up everything that happened the previous night. She grabbed her things and waited at the front door of the hotel for Yusei to arrive.<p>

"He's probably still irritated at me for how I acted last night," Ruka muttered to herself. She didn't want that incident to cause them to grow farther apart. In fact, she wanted the opposite and wanted them to get closer than before. She remembered what Yusei said about being alone and she wanted to help him through that with everything she had. Unfortunately, her own feelings were still a mess and she wasn't sure what kind of feelings she should express to Yusei. She knew she was the one who kissed him first, but it was an impulsive action. She wasn't ready for any of the consequences that could have occurred from it. He started to have his way with her, but a part of her was scared. She was happy he cared for her so much, but was frightened by how Yusei acted. She wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing.

The sounds of D-wheel screeched to a stop in front of Ruka. She looked up to see Yusei holding the spare helmet. "Hey."

"Um, yes." That was a bad start, she thought.

He paused for a moment before nodding. She took the helmet and sat behind him. In no time at all they were down the road. Like the previous night, the ride was silent and uncomfortable again. They arrived back at the apartment and stepped up to his room. Ruka took out her materials for the assignment while Yusei went to grab another chair to use.

He came back in no time and sat next to her in the new chair. "Well…what questions did you have?"

Ruka showed him a couple of questions she wrote down as well as the assignment guidelines. After understanding it all, he started to help her with the assignment. It started off strangely, with Ruka messing up quite a bit due to her current condition, but the mood slowly began to change. As time passed forward, at the same moment time had also begun to rewind. Ruka was going back to the emotions of when she was a child, and Yusei was going back to the emotions of a young adult. It was just another session of when Ruka would ask Yusei to help her with home from Duel Academia. He always knew the answers to the questions and she enjoyed his presence to help her through.

In what seemed like no time at all, the final paragraph of the paper was written and Ruka was done with the assignment. She stood up to take a stretch while Yusei grabbed some coffee.

"That was so easy with you helping me, Yusei!" She smiled at him as he returned.

"I only helped a little bit. It was your hard work that got you through." He handed her one of the cups.

When she took a sip of the coffee the taste was different compared to yesterday. It was made so the flavors mixed well together. "This is good…"

"I learned it from Aki a while back," he commented before drinking his own cup. He placed it on the table as he began to collect his thoughts.

With the loosened tension between the two still intact, they continued their conversation back two days ago in the facility about their lives between the years. Hours passed as they continued to talk. Eventually, Yusei noticed the clock reading 9:54PM.

"It's getting late. I should take you back." He stood up from his chair.

Just as Yusei said that, Ruka suddenly remembered she came here for another reason other than homework. "Wait, before that…" She couldn't find the right words to say, butYusei knew what was on her mind, and it raised the same thoughts in his own head. The lost tension from before had come back, but both were prepared for it now.

"Hey…," They said at the same time.

"You first." Again.

A long pause as they waited for the other to say something.

"…Sorry." Once again, they said in unison.

Both their faces turned to surprise as they looked at each other, unsure on what the other was apologizing about.

Ruka was the first to speak. "I rejected you yesterday even though I started it. I wanted you to rely on me so I did that thing, but when you started taking control I got scared. I didn't know what to do. When we stopped I couldn't help but avoid you. I didn't know how to approach you after that. I tried to sort out myself during then and now, and used the homework as a way to understand both of us a bit better." She grabbed the photo on the desk and took a good look at it, especially at her very young self in the image. "I've changed…I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that our relationship from before was about to fall apart, so I panicked…but…" She looked at Yusei. "I'm willing to give it a chance. I'll risk being rejected and lose what we had before if it means there's a change I can get closer to you and understand you better."

Yusei looked at her for a moment and took it in before giving his own confession. "Actually, I was happy when you kissed me, but I realized that I wasn't the best choice you could make. Even then, I attacked you and would have gone all the way if Leo hadn't interrupted us. After that you seemed distant and I thought that was the reason you were-"

"No!" Ruka interrupted. She walked over to Yusei and held his hand with hers. "Nothing you did could ever hurt me. I trust you. That's why I'm willing to give you my everything if it can help you."

Yusei pulled his hands away as he took a few steps back. "But I hurt you yesterday. I don't want that to happen again."

She walked forward to take his hands again. "You didn't hurt me at all. I just wasn't prepared for it."

"But there's too much of a gap between us. It'd be better if you found someone you could relate to better."

She giggled, feeling the anxiety from before leaving her body. "I think the only person I feel closer to than you would be Rua, and that's a bit problematic."

Yusei couldn't help but warm up to her smile. He pulled away his hands yet again, but instead used them to pull her body closer. "Are you sure?"

She simply raised her head and closed her eyes. He took the bait and kissed her on the lips. The clouded thoughts of their hearts had cleared, allowing them to enjoy the moment to the fullest. Yusei had returned to his male instincts as he parted lips and began to nibble on Ruka's ear. She was caught off guard and fell onto the bed along with Yusei. He looked down to see that he was in the same position as he was yesterday. Right when he was about to say something Ruka placed a finger to his lips to shush him.

"Don't say anything," she said with a smile. "I already said I was going to give you everything."

He took her hand and sucked on one of her fingers a bit before giving it a kiss. "I don't want this to be a one-sided thing. I'll give you my everything as well."

"Silly…" She pulled him closer before giving him a quick kiss. "You've already given that to me a long time ago."

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><p>The sound of chirping birds was muffled through the window of the room, but it was enough to wake up the emerald-hair beauty from her slumber. She slowly sat up to stretch her arms out before realizing all she was wearing was her birthday suit. She looked around the room and remembered what had happened the night before. She then glanced over to see her partner still sound asleep. After finding her resolve, everything she worried about from before seemed so insignificant. Her eyes wandered around the room until they rested on the clock from before. Those same eyes widened to saucers after realizing the time and date.<p>

Ruka scrambled out of bed and quickly dressed herself back into the clothes that were splayed all over the ground. Her suddenly activity had also woken up Yusei, who saw her pulling on her bra. Even with the events of last night, he looked away in respect. "W-What's the rush?"

She was too high-strung to care about anything at the moment other than the task at hand. "It's almost three in the afternoon! Our flight goes off at 6. Oh…and I stayed over here without the teacher's permission either…!"

Yusei dressed himself as well. "I'll get my D-wheel ready, then."

After they were both ready, Yusei started up his engine as they headed off to the hotel as quickly as he could. Ruka still wasn't used to the speed Yusei was going at, but she didn't mind grabbing him all the more tighter to keep herself steady.

Upon getting to the hotel, Yusei screeched to a stop while Ruka quickly jumped off the D-wheel while throwing the helmet to Yusei, but felt dizzy from the ride and tripped. Yusei quickly caught her by the arm as she steadied herself.

"Thanks." She smiled to him.

"No problem."

She started to head up to her room, but Yusei's grip was still firmly holding to her arm. "Yusei?" she asked.

He gave her a business card. "Here. It has my cell phone number on it. Feel free to call me at any time."

She graciously took the card. "I will!" She turned back as Yusei's grip loosened. "…I know we didn't spend a lot of time together, but I feel we got a lot closer."

"I feel the same."

They shared a final kiss before Ruka pulled away. "...I love you."

"I love you, too," Yusei replied with a quick pat on her head.

Without anymore words, she ran back to her room while Yusei drove to the lab.

Still, there was something lingering in Ruka's mind. What could it be…?

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><p>"Achoo!" a red-haired doctor somewhere in the world suddenly sneezed.<p>

"Doctor Izayoi! Are you okay?" A nurse asked.

"I…I'm fine, but I swear I just felt a shiver down my spine…"


End file.
